To Backup or not to backup, that is the real question ?
 

Hi all,

I recently bought "the sims 2".everything was going well when suddenly someone decides to crack my cd. Im now going to have to pay cash to EA for a replacement. my question is "is there any point of making a backup of the cd". thats cause if u do try to play with the backup, u get a error message saying "please insert the correct cd".

Surely there must be a way of makiung sure that "legal owners of sims 2" have a way of playing the game without the worry of the original cd becoming damaged ??? I dont want to make the same mistake and I do not want to pay another £10 for a replacement !

The questions you asked have been discused here many times before. (read the rules and also use the search button). It is legal for someone to backup a game providing they own the original. As for the error message you mention
Actually that isnt a error message. If you had made a 1.1 backup of the game the "please insert original cd" message wouldnt appear. (use search for info on 1.1 backups). Anyway when you backup a game as long as you are able to install the game you have made a working copy. Simply download a nocd or fixed exe from here (GCW) and replace the original exe with the cracked one and hey presto the message "please insert original CD" no longer appears. (once you replace the exe you can normally play without a CD in the drive @ all providing you pick the full install option when installing the game). All i have mentioned and much more is coverd in the stickies/rules, use the search option to and you will have all the info you need to be able to backup games and make them work no probs.
Actually i think that EA will replace the broken disk providing you have proof of purchase. You may have to cover postal cost but it wont cost as much as replacing the game.
Hope this clears things up for you. We were all NoObies once.

hi pop,
yeh its annoying isn't it? these days when you buy games, you're effectively buying a license to use the software on the disk, not just buying the disks themselves. that license lasts for life, and so, as the disks themselves may not last that long, you're entitled to endless replacements should something go wrong.
unfortunately anything could happen - games companies go bankrupt, disappear, and simply just forget about their older games and no longer support or produce them, making it hard to get a replacement from them, which is where backups come in.
but of course, making a backup isn't all that easy, due to copy protection. which means the games companies should provide replacements easier. and it all goes round in a circle.

my advice is, if you have a DVD writer, make a backup of the DVD and live with the no cd cracks. or, make a disk image of the DVD and run from a virtual drive. or, just take your chances and use the original, hoping it will last until you sell the game on, or just get sick of it and stop playing. whatever you do, take care of your original!
i believe that EA replace disks for free only if you have proof of purchase showing that you bought it less than 90 days ago. if you don't have proof of purchase, or more than 90 days has passed, its ?10 (i believe i read it in the Final Fantasy X-2 manual). seems extortionate, but at least its better quality than a backup
________
Honda Racing F1 specifications

pop, to be honest with you, yes, its always good to have a backup and dont worry about the messages, a nocd crack will fix that, however, i think you should be more responsible and take good care of ur original, lets face it, a few scratches wont stop it from being usable, and it being cracked? that happens when u leave cds lying around, just dont do that, put it in the box, and hey, sorted.

Pop you've have had some good advice from myself (my advice is always good :rolleyes: ),reddragon105 + Luciel. I Expecially liked Luciel's advice. (however i will grant it that sometimes disk's can break other ways).

well yeah i imagine it can brake other ways, but im trying to generalise ;)

And what a excellent job you did to ;)
Seem's Pop either wasnt intrested in what we had to say (hence no reply) or what we said diddnt warrent a reply :D

Hi,

Thanx 4 d info. i am grateful. just kinda didnt have access to this forum for a few days.

I phoned EA and they say their policy is that if you want a replacement cd u gotta cough up £7.50 for each disc plus postage cost.

About the no-cd fix, I havent found a "crack" for the game. the one I did find seems to be not 100% reliable. Found a few exe of "mounting". However I have found another way to over come the problem. I installed the expansion pack to the game. Now the game only asks for the original expansion pack cd and no longer for the original game cd. great!

Thanx 4 ur advice. :)

P.S. Bought another game recently.Once I finished installing the game, I chose to play it. However a message appears saying "please insert original cd disc instead of the backup cd". wats that about ??? I had the original cd in my cd-rom. Either SecuROM need to do better cd protections or someguy made a beautiful cd backup ?

Have any of u guys had that problem ?

Yeah secuROM can be a real pain for some ppl. As for the question about some guy made a good copy. Where did you buy it from ? (privately i take it). You can tell if its a original though if you look hard enough and obviously Original games are mass produced (pressed) so you should be able to tell that way. It is easy to creat disk images these days but ive yet to see one that would leave me in doubt as to if its original or not ;) You can always get around the problem with sercuROM by using a nocd of course. (not that you should have to mind if its a original). I always use nocd,fixed exe etc to keep my original disks perfect and its a pain having to insert disks just to play a game any-how.